72 - HOW EXPERIENCES DEVELOP
ences, like others, may begin informally in the classroom.
The alert teacher will pick up a situation, or possibly just a
question, through which she and the children will seek an-
swers and draw their conclusions. The teacher need not be
a scientist, but she needs the ability to help children to think,
to plan how and where to discover facts, to assemble and
interpret them. The following series of experiences began
during a discussion of the solar system in a third grade class.
It illustrates how interest was extended, by wise guidance,
into a study which reached far into the adult world, yet helped
children learn nutrition principles5 useful to them.
The situation. Miss Young, the teacher, became aware that an
argument was in progress between John and Billy. John said a
starfish is a fish, Billy that it is not. Miss Young recognized this
as an opportunity to teach the group something about Jiving
things. She also recognized certain social values in the situation,
i.e., that Billy needed to learn that opinions and statements we
make which influence others should be based on facts. Miss
Young said: "Let us find out all we can about the starfish/'
Facts are sought. Class discussion showed that the children
knew how fish swim, breathe, and eat, but that little was known
about the starfish. Science books were consulted but the infor-
mation was not divulged. The encyclopedia told how the starfish
eats, but not how it breathes. Finally a book was found which
said that starfish are not fish; that they have gills; but that they
do not have fins or backbones.
Facts are challenged. Mr. Aery, the science teacher, whom the
children had consulted, raised the question: "Do starfish have
gills?" Here was an opportunity to show the children the value
of questioning the accuracy of sources of information and the
authenticity of the printed word. The search went on. One
paxent, a biologist, did not know the answer. The children then
wrote to the author of the book which had said that starfish have
giffls. Here is a typical letter:
5 Gertrude Marian Young. A report given in a personal interview on a
series of experiences developed in Grade III, Horace Mann-Lincoln Elemen-
ts*^ Sc&ooi, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1942.